DJI Gives You What You've Wanted and Fills the New Mini 3 Pro With Impressive Capabilities

Let's face it, with their endless applications in countless industries, drones have become a common sight in our homes and skies. From Amazon delivery machines to securing compounds or simple flying cameras, drones are here to stay. One team most folks have come to recognize is DJI.

If the name DJI sounds familiar, it could be because we've featured their works on autoevolution before, including some heat this company received because of the conflict in Ukraine. Nonetheless, DJI has been around since 2006 and knows how to keep moving forward; heck, they're responsible for trinkets that are even used for cinematic shots in movies.

Well, earlier this month, this company unveiled its freshest drone yet, the Mini 3 Pro. No, not Mini 2, but Mini 3, and don't forget about the Pro. If you're aware of DJI's work and have explored the Mini 2 drone, you're also aware that it's considered by some to be an excellent entry-level drone for the beginner. With a bit of flying experience and some knowledge of filming or taking photos, the Mini 2 proved to be a reliable machine. However, pilots and artists seemed to want more, and DJI is answering with the 3 Pro.

There are two crucial factors in the new drone's ability to make it into your home, budget and capability. Kicking things off with budget, the 3 is clearly pricier than the Mini 2, and it's because of the upgraded capabilities you'll find. Without a controller, the 3 Pro is selling for $670 (€625 at current exchange rates), and the Mini 2 is set at $450 (€420). If you need your 3 Pro to include a DJI controller, $760 (€710) is your price, clearly without shipping.

Now for the capabilities, just to understand why the extra bucks for this beauty. First off, to ensure this drone reaches as many households as possible, it too is designed to weigh no more than 249 grams. Why is this a big deal? Most countries in the world have strict regulations regarding drone usage; some drones even require a pilot's license. However, drones weighing 250 grams or less are targeted with the least amount of regulations. Depending on your area, all you may have to do is pay a local registration fee, print out an identification code, stick it on your drone and have fun. In others, you won't even have to do that much; unbox, update, and fly.

Beyond that, this bugger has been equipped with a better camera and a design that allows your gimbal to take photos and video of objects above the drone, an action not possible with the Mini 2. You can film 4K HDR video and take 48-megapixel RAW images. I'm not much of a photographer, but you'll have to play around with settings on your own to get the best shots possible. Features like FocusTrack allow you to lock onto an object and keep the image as crisp as possible, even in motion, and Hyperlapse creates timelapse video.

For the 3 Pro, DJI listened to customer input and decided to give pilots more flight time. The standard battery can yield up to 34 minutes of flight, but another battery is available too, yielding up to 47 minutes of aerial action. Grab a few of those, I say.

Now, the last thing you want is to unbox your drone, head down to a local park, takeoff, and then destroy your toy in the first few minutes. To avoid such situations, the Pro also includes more sensors for the drone's spatial awareness but also introduces Advanced Pilot Assistance Systems (APAS 4.0) to ensure your drone doesn't smash into objects when you don't want it to, as if you ever would. Nonetheless, this system detects objects in real-time and makes corrections to your flight path.

Honestly, I'm a bit bummed that I didn't wait until my next salary and added an extra two to three hundred bones to my purchase of the Mini 2; I could have rocked the Mini 3 Pro too! Nonetheless, shipping for the Pro is estimated in August 2022, and I've got test rides to cover until then. Maybe next year's footage will be shot on a Mini 3 Pro.